(A/N: Mentions of inappropriate stuff in this chapter, not my usual stuff. Nothing graphic, nobody getting it on, totally safe. Thanks for reading! FW)

"Hey, I'm back. Tortillas have vegetable shortening, but they cook the diced potatoes in bacon grease, so I asked 'em to use a torn up hashbrowns instead. Hope that's okay." Dean called, setting down an arm load of coffee, breakfast, and a bag from the game store in his room.

"A torn up hashbrown?" Lita's voice came from the doorway.

"Yeah," Dean replied, digging into the bag. "They make them in vegetable oil, but it's crunchy, like chips, or shoestring fries."

Lita came closer, peering into the bag. Dean finally looked up. She was wearing a Starfleet uniform in teal, her curly hair pulled back, but fairly fluffed.

"'Next Gen' fan, huh, Counselor?" Dean asked, reaching into the bag and handing her a foil wrapped bundle.

"Original is better, but when the costume came, it didn't work like I thought it would." she said, sitting down.

"How's that?" Dean asked, taking one of the cups out of the cup carrier and placing it on the table next to her.

"I was just going to add leggings, and I bought it three sizes too big, but when I put it on, it... well, it was... shapely." she said, setting the burrito down to take a sip.

"Because what's the point in being covered if you can see everything anyway, right?" Dean asked.

"Exactly." Lita responded, picking up the burrito again.

"So, are you going to be running around half naked at the convention?" Dean asked nonchalantly.

Lita shot him a dirty look. "Cosplay doesn't count. And I actually feel okay with this." she said running a hand over the collar that covered her throat.

"I'm just saying, you know, Guinan was always pretty well covered." Dean said defensively.

"If you have to explain your costume, you're doing it wrong. Her character is too minor, and I look nothing like Whoopi Goldberg." she peeled back the tortilla a bit, looking at the hashbrown shreds. "This was a really good idea, crunchy pieces... What did you buy at the game store?"

Dean had his mouth full, and pulled the shirt out of the bag to show her.

Dean hadn't minded waiting in the insanely long registration line. Lita stayed quiet, watching the crowd carefully, occasionally pointing out costumes she thought were particularly good.

"Okay, favorite anime?" Dean asked, just to break the silence between them.

"Card Captor Sakura." she answered, still scanning the crowd. "My cousin got me hooked on Card Captors, then when she got the better one from Japan, we bingewatched it when she came to stay with my family for a few weeks one summer."

"That must have been fun. Are you two close?"

"We were really close. She passed away the next year. Car accident."

"Sorry." Dean said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

Lita frowned slightly. "She's in a better place, I'm sure."

"Yeah, well, still hurts to miss somebody."

A short time later, Dean and Lita made their way to the dealer's room. Rows of tables lined the walls and created wide labyrinthine aisles inside the cavernous hall. Clumps of people, whether in street clothes, costumes both epic and shitty, or basic fan merchandise, stood talking and browsing. The overall mood of the giant room was happy and content.

Dean jumped as a dark skinned teenaged boy suddenly bumped into him, reaching past his arm to tap Lita's shoulder, about three feet in front of him. The kid was also in a Starfleet uniform, and after stifling the instinct to throw him backwards, he started trying to place the character.

"Sorry, man, sorry!" the youth said to Dean, turning back to Lita abruptly. "Hey, great costume! A bunch of us are trying to get a bridge crew together for a picture, wanna help us out?"

"Geordi LaForge, right?" Dean asked.

"Yeah!" he said, nodding with a big grin.

"Except he wasn't bridge crew, he was in engineering."

"You're good!" he laughed, "Where's your costume?"

"Left it in my mom's basement."

The kid laughed harder. "So, how about it? We'd love to get you in the picture."

"Sure," Lita said, turning to follow him.

Dean set down the Firefly figurine he had been looking at, and started to follow.

A rather bouncy woman who appeared to be in her late twenties wearing a convention staff tshirt stepped in front of him, way too close for personal comfort, carrying a stack of flyers in one hand and a single one in the other. "Yaoi film fest tonight on the second floor!"

Dean leaned back as she shoved the flyer towards his face. He mentally equated her to an obnoxious yapping poodle. "No. Thanks. I'm good."

"Oh, that's cute." she said, grinning far too widely and cocking her head in amusement. Dean looked past her, and spotted Lita posing with the group of cosplayers. Several people were taking photos, but they all seemed harmless. "What about your lady friend? She might like to go."

"Yeah, no, I think I know her well enough to guess." Dean muttered, and stepped around her, his irritation barely contained.

Dean pulled out his phone and joined the several amateur photographers, figuring Lita would want a picture. Lita hurried up to him quickly, shying away from a Riker cosplayer with a far too angular face who was trying a little too hard to keep her attention. Dean wasn't too surprised when Lita grabbed his elbow a bit too fast, waved at the rest of the group, and began to hustle him away.

"You okay?" Dean asked, looking back at the man.

"Yeah, no, he's human, just creepy. But that girl with the flyers, she wasn't. What did she say?"

"Oh. She, um... she was passing out flyers for some anime screening tonight."

"Then we should go, try to keep an eye on her."

"Uh, bad idea. And not exactly going to line up with the case, can't be many guys attending for this one."

"What is it, some romance story?"

"Uh, sure. Yeah." Dean spotted the overly chipper non-human. "Oh, crap, she's coming back."

Flourishing a flyer to Lita, and once again, standing much too close, she bounced into place in front of them. "Yaoi film fest tonight on the second floor! Doors open at midnight, I.D. required!"

Lita gingerly took the flyer. Dean tried to read her face, but other than general discomfort, he wasn't sure about Lita's reaction. He smiled politely before moving his arm up to Lita's shoulders and steering her away.

"What is yaoi?" Lita asked.

Dean grimaced. "Gay."

Lita looked taken aback.

"No, I don't mean that like derogatory, I mean, literally. It's... it's basically gay porn, but anime." Dean said quietly.

Lita looked at the flyer. "She's not human, Dean. And four people have died. I'm sorry, I'm not comfortable with this, but if it bothers you, I can go by myself."

"With your phaser set to stun, no doubt... No, I'm with you. But you'll owe me for this one."

"How long have we been in this line?" Dean asked.

"I guess half an hour."

Another person in a convention staff tshirt had gone down the long line announcing several times that the show had been delayed, the room was almost ready, and they were testing the equipment now. It had been at least ten minutes since then.

Yet another staffer was walking past, when Dean stopped him. "Hey, do you get a discount for working the con?"

"Yeah, working knocks the price down a bunch, but the head honchos who work the entire time probably don't have to pay, since they put the whole thing together." Dean nodded, and the guy kept walking. Lita shot a confused look at the guy as he walked away.

Dean leaned a bit closer to Lita. "How much did the convention package cost our mystery lady?"

Lita pulled her phone out of a pocket and flipped through her email, just as the line started to move.

She was still pulling up the credit card records as they got to the door. Dean tried not to flinch as flyer-girl yapped at them, startling Lita when she looked up.

"Cellphones off in the theater! Also, we do not discourage inappropriate behavior, we just ask you take it back to your hotel room, and not do it here." She turned to Dean. "You! Aren't you a sweetheart, going to keep her company. You aren't fooling anyone, you know."

"I'm not?"

"No. If you get any more uncomfortable, you're going to squirm right out of your perfect freckly skin!"

Dean raised his eyebrows and kept walking, following Lita. She went to the first row that was completely empty, and made her way to the end by the wall, where a path back to the door was readily available. She took a seat in the last chair, and Dean sat down next to her.

After a moment, Lita turned to Dean. "You just got hit on by a demon..."

Dean nodded, avoiding her eyes. "Yep. Not for the first time, either."

Lita watched as the seats began to fill faster. Yappy McDemon stayed at the door, checking convention badges and I.D.s as con-goers entered.

After there was enough of a crowd to make them less noticeable, Lita slipped her phone out again. "I have an idea."

Dean turned to look, but she caught his elbow that was to her, and moved his arm forward, sticking the phone under the waist of his shirt. He jumped slightly, not expecting to feel the top of the hard plastic brush his side.

"What are you doing?" he whispered.

"Shhh. The fabric is thin enough I can just see to turn the light down on the screen." Lita hissed back.

Dean squirmed as the phone dragged against tender skin on the way out of his waistband.

"Ticklish?" Lita whispered, trying not to laugh.

"Not the time, Lita."

Dean scanned the crowd as the anime began to play. Almost entirely women, as he'd noticed when they were in line.

Lita did what she could to keep her phone covered as she searched the hacked credit card statements.

Several minutes into the film, Dean was sure it wouldn't be long before the animated characters would be up to plenty he'd rather not see. Lita's presence next to him was making it about ten times worse.

Lita tucked a leg under her to gain some height, and whispered in his ear. "The statement shows the amount for a gold package, with tax, no staff discount. The girl at the door isn't human, but can't be the one we're looking for, or she wouldn't be working the convention."

"So we can go?"

Lita nodded, tucking her phone into her pocket, and standing up to walk along the wall to the back. Dean followed close behind her as noises started to indicate a line had been crossed on the screen.

Lita turned the corner at the last row of chairs, carefully following the wall to the door, but curiosity got the better of Dean, who took one sideways glance at the screen, and immediately regretted it.

Going through the door at the back of the room and out into the now deserted hallway, the demon looked up from her post outside the door. "Already? Damn!"

Lita looked uncomfortable at the obvious implication as the not-actual-woman started to laugh.

"She's not feeling well." Dean said, reaching into his jacket. "It was a long drive, really threw off her schedule. Of course it also helps if you carry stuff like this."

Dean withdrew his hand, splashing holy water from a small flask onto the demon, causing steam to rise from her skin, accompanied by a distinct sizzling sound. She started to shriek, but he clamped a hand over her mouth, yanking her to her feet.